(September 20, 2013 at 9:56 pm)Esquilax Wrote: No, in that case the bible would be disingenuous; it might be your holy book, but it doesn't get to redefine words any more than any other text does. If the bible sought to list the attributes of water, and one of those attributes was "is made of cheese," then the bible's definition of water would be wrong, and nobody would be dishonest in saying that cheese isn't water.I've previously noted the dictionary meaning of perfect. Let's review, as you don't seem to have looked it up yourself:
Words have meanings, and holy texts aren't exempt from having to follow those. The word "perfect" means something, and based on its objective meaning the god of the bible does not measure up; what you're trying to do is call god perfect based on an (incorrect according to the dictionary) definition that's unique to the bible, and then swap it out for the dictionary meaning when it's convenient. It's a linguistic trick, it's disingenuous on its own, and it's not what you're really arguing for.
http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/perfect?s=t
perfect
adjective
1. conforming absolutely to the description or definition of an ideal type
Nothing about genocide in there.
Quote:The best one could say is that, according to the attributes of perfection listed in the bible, god would be perfect. Congrats, you've defined a label into existence; god is perfect only by redefining the word perfect to mean "acceptably imperfect."There is no redefining of definition in what you say. The fact is that different people have different definitions of the "ideal type" mentioned in the dictionary definition above.